Publications

"What's Hope Got To Do With It? New Insights of Benefit for Leaders and Organizations" -- Lamar Carter and William J. Paul, Ph.D.

What’s hope got to do with it? Perhaps the same as the singer and performer Tina Turner suggests in one of her signature songs, “What’s love got to do with it?” …. a lot.

Research from several fields suggests that hope plays a more pivotal role in individual as well as organizational performance than is widely recognized or reported. Research has also found that hope is an important ingredient in the capacity of individuals to deal with change. Hope influences how people cope with the stresses and complexities of change – whether the changes are personal, professional, economic or organizational. Yet, there is relatively little written about how hope can be actively used in transforming behavior. For example, in Leading Without Power – Finding Hope in Serving Community, Max de Pree wrote that over previous years he hadn’t recalled, “reading in any management or leadership books anything about the organizational function of hope. But,” he added, “vital organizations, like vital people, are full of hope and anticipation for things to come. … Hope encourages maturity, continuity and accountability.” As leaders in all fields confront the unrelenting challenges and increasing scope of change, maintaining a hopeful organizational culture goes beyond something “nice” to being a necessity. The use of hope needs to change from being seen as a conceptual antidote or an aspiration, for example, as used in the expression “[the Company] needed a shot of hope after the past couple of years. Rather, hope needs to be seen as a vital tool which can be actively used to address company or organizational challenges. Recently, the nature of hope has received increased attention. More probing discussion and research into the nature of hope indicate that it is fundamental to the human experience and not merely an affect associated with an end result. Yet, to appreciate the role hope appears to play in individual and organizational experience, it is important to consider what hope is and distinguish it from expectation, wishes and wants and, perhaps most importantly, from optimism.

For complete text, please see monograph .

Aspects of Hope
The Proceedings of a Seminar on Hope
Eds. Lamar Carter, Ann Mische and David R. Schwarz, published by ICIS Center for A Science of Hope, 1993

Contents include:

Hope and Endurance of Stress
Hope in Education Toward Commitment
An African Perspective on Hope
Hope and Inner-City Youth
Hope in Contemporary Life in the Former USSR
The Need for Hope for People with AIDS
The Harlem Writers Crew Project
Hope as an Energizer in Mega-Cities
Developing a Science of Hope

To order: send check for $12.00 payable to ICIS Center for A Science of Hope to:

ICIS Center for A Science of Hope
c/o Lamar Carter
One Washington Square Village, PHF
New York , NY 10012

Hope and Vanquished Reality
Nguyen Xuan Phong, published by ICIS Center for A Science of Hope and Xlibris, 2001

A compelling story of hope with reflections on hope’s ability to influence — and be influenced — by historical events.

From his deep knowledge of Vietnamese culture and traditions, the author weaves a tapestry that presents a perspective that often contrasts with Western perspectives regarding the 25-year conflict called by some The Vietnam War and others The American War in Viet-Nam. An engrossing story of hope in a person’s life, the book is also an objective contribution to the understanding of a great collective tragedy of the 20th Century.

Contents include:

The Fall of Saigon – Hope and Despair
Forty-Eight Hours – Hope and Purpose
“Get Lost” and “Drop Dead” – Hope and Meaning
Those Who Left and Those Who Stayed – Hope and Reason
Victors and Vanquished – Hope and Reality
Civilizations – Illusions and Disillusions of Hope
A Long-delayed Trip to the North – Myths and Realities
Starlight Returns – Latent Hope
Joyous Abandoning – Passive Hope
Home Sweet Home – Active Hope
The Longest Road – Communicative Hope
A Modus Vivendi – Life, Hope and Destiny

To order limited paperback copies at author discount of $20, make check payable to ICIS Center for A Science of Hope and send it to:

ICIS Center for A Science of Hope
c/o Lamar Carter
One Washington Square Village, PHF
New York , NY 10012

To order hardcover or paperback, visit Xlibris Bookstore .

Memory Fields
Shlomo Breznitz, published by ICIS Center for A Science of Hope and Xlibris, 2001

A recounting of the author’s devastating experiences upon being placed in a Sisters of Saint Vincent orphanage just hours before his parents were taken to Auschwitz. He describes overwhelming feelings of isolation and loneliness, and persistent dread on being discovered. Interwoven throughout the book, Professor Breznitz, the psychologist, draws on his history and explores the nature of cruelty and kindness, of stifling fear and outstanding courage, and the ways in which memory shapes our lives.

To order hardcover or paperback, visit Xlibris Bookstore.